Judges Timmermans, Gulmann and Schintgen
The plaintiff was employed by the defendants within the public sector in the Republic Of Ireland. After falling pregnant she spent almost the entire duration of her pregnancy on sick leave as a consequence of a medical condition linked to her pregnancy. The plaintiff’s contract included a sick-leave scheme which offset absences against the total number of days of paid sick-leave available.
The plaintiff alleged that to include pregnancy related illnesses within the scope of such a scheme was discriminatory as only women could be affected. The dispute was referred to the E.C.J. for a preliminary ruling.
The national court effectively asked - "was a sick-leave scheme, which treated female workers suffering pregnancy related illnesses similarly to workers suffering illnesses unrelated to pregnancy, discriminatory under European law?"
The judges felt that pregnancy was not comparable to any other pathological illness, and disorders or complications linked to it were inherent risks in the condition.
The Court decided that sick-leave schemes which treat pregnancy related problems in a similar fashion to other medical conditions were acceptable provided that the pay afforded to female employees did not drop to levels so low as to undermine the objective of protecting pregnant workers. Overall therefore such sick-leave schemes were, on principle, not discriminatory.